Fall 2004 - Venus

REGINA SPEKTOR

Late-blooming and genre-jumping pays off for the classically trained solo artist on Soviet Kitsch

Regina Spektor's name might make you think of Wall Of Sound producer Phil Spector or his ex-wife, girl- group leader Ronnie, but then the alternate spelling of the surname throws you off.

There's something foreign about the "K" that brings to mind men in fur hats, women in kerchiefs, maybe even a Boris and Natasha cartoon. That juxta- position is a good indicator of the clash of worlds Regina Spektor embodies.

Born in Moscow during the Cold War, Spektor started playing classical piano at age 6, three years before her family immigrated to the Bronx. Now in her 20s, Spektor is making waves in the pop world with her third CD, Soviet Kitsch, recorded with Strokes producer Gordon Raphael and released by Sire Records. Spektor has recorded a duet with the Strokes, "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men," for a B- side, and completed tours with them and the Kings Of Leon. So how did a classically trained Russian pianist end up rubbing elbows with the American rock elite?

"I was playing classical music and I really wanted to be a pianist," Spektor explains. "Then when I was around the age of 15 or 16, I was finding myself read- ing more than wanting to practice." To combat the boredom, Spektor started making up her own songs, and while at an arts camp in Israel, she shared them with her fellow campers, who encouraged her to pur- sue songwriting. "It took me a lot of years of persever- ance trying through painful, cringe-worthy things until I started writing some songs I didn't hate as much." she admits.

Spektor went on to graduate from the music con- servatory at SUNY Purchase in upstate New York and began playing shows in her native NYC when she returned from college. She independently recorded and released two albums, 11:11 and Songs, which got the attention of Strokes producer Raphael. At the time, Spektor didn't even know who the Strokes were.

"I think what happened was I wasn't exposed to any- thing except the Beatles and Queen and a bunch of classical music way into adolescence," Spektor says of her ongoing education in rock music. "Then when I would find out about things, I would just suck them dry." It was only recently that she discovered David Bowie and U2. "I get really frustrated with it because I feel like it's some sort of unintentional ignorance," she says. "Everybody else is like, 'Oh, you're so lucky! I wish I could be discovering U2 just now!"

Despite her late-bloomer status, Spektor throws plenty of pop hooks into the songs on Soviet Kitsch. On "Ode To Divorce," her fiery voice sounds reminis- cent of Björk, while an intimate character sketch like "Chemo Limo" brings to mind '70s singer-songwriters like Carole King. Then Spektor can change course and deliver a rocker like "Your Honor" (with the punk band Kil Kenada), or borrow the chant "You're so goddamn young" from Patti Smith's "Set Me Free" for "Poor Little Rich Boy."

Such genre-jumping is easy when you don't have a band. "I'm really lucky," Spektor says of her solo status, "because I can write a hip-hop song one day and a pop song the next, then a sappy drinking bal- lad the next, and some sort of operatic, classical song the next."

But if you want to label Spektor "a girl with a piano," just go ahead. "I am a girl, and I play a piano," she says. "But I think that the people who don't dis- cern will jump to that [conclusion] and the people that really listen will hear more than that."

- Charlotte Robinson